Effect of Solanum Nigrun on Uterus of Non-gravid Rats

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Solanum nigrum is a widely used plant inoriental medicine where it is considered to be antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and d iuretic. This study aimed to evaluate the effectof Solanum Nigrum on uterine contractions.METHOD: Female Wistar Wister albino rats were used for thestudy. They were housed in a single large cage in an atmosphericcontrolled environment. Twenty-four hours before everyexperiment, 0.2 mg/kg of diethylstilbesterol constituted in 1:1ethanol/water solution, was administered intraperitoneally as apre-treatment to the rats to induce oestrus. It was done for twoweeks during the study period. The phytochemical analysis wascarried out to test for the phytochemical constituent of the plant.RESULT: The result showed that the extract inhibited the releaseof intracellular calcium ion. The effect of acetylcholine wassignificantly inhibited by the extract that is at 200mg/ml (p>0.05)and 300 mg/ml (p<0.01). The highest mean inhibitory effect of theextract observed on acetylcholine induced contractions was 90.54 ±1.15. The oxytocin induced contraction was significantly inhibitedby the extract at 200 mg/ml (p<0.05) and at 300 mg/ml (p<0.001)doses respectively. The highest mean inhibitory effect of the extractobserved on Oxytocin induced contractions was 41.10±1.02 andwas significantly stronger compared with acetylcholine inducedcontractions.CONCLUSION: The aqueous extract of Solanum nigrun inhibitedthe activity of oxytocin on the uterus, and it may possess relaxantactivity.